I got extensively checked out for why I was in pain all the time after I ate, losing massive amounts of weight to the point of near-starvation and felt like I had food stuck in my esophagus all the time. Doctors tested me for a couple of weeks for physical esophagus problems, declared I was fine, and sent me to a psychologist who grilled me for 45 minutes about whether I believed the tests or I “still thought something was wrong with me”. I told her I believed the tests but that they were not the right tests yet. Pretty sure I didn’t anxiety myself into losing 60 pounds in 4 months and losing my house, work and relationship… she declared I had “health anxiety”. Oops, turned out I was actually developing LADA, a form of type 1 diabetes. I ended up at the ER later on and they said I would have died or gone into a coma in another 1-2 days.
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I was recovering from extended time with undiagnosed Celiac. I assumed it was related to that. My symptoms seemed a lot like what I experienced with Celiac, but I was so stringently gluten free that I couldn’t figure out what was happening. The doctor i saw was a celiac specialist - and he was great at that - but I needed a more general doctor or an endocrinologist. On the last day of 2 weeks there, after all these esophagus tests, allergists, a dermatologist and the psychologist, he said “It could be Type 1 Diabetes… some people get that too”. Then didn’t order a blood test or do anything.
Insanely bad doctor, wow. Losing a ton of weight super quick is like one of the biggest symptoms of diabetes
I wish I’d figured it out myself. One problem was I was recovering from Celiac, and tried a very restricted diet, and a liquid diet - which actually worked when I started doing chicken in a blender (which is much better than it sounds, especially when you’ve been starving for 4 months). Tell a doctor ‘I was starving and I went to this weird restricted diet’ and it seems they have a really hard time with the order of things. Reality was “I was starving and in pain and then I tried this restricted diet” and they hear “you were on this restricted diet, and then you were starving and in pain”.
Do you know what they call doctors that barely passed medical school, at the bottom of their class?
Doctors.
Also C-doctors
Damn did you message the psychologist the truth?
More like damn did you message your malpractice lawyers?
I’ve thought about it. It was all a lot to handle and I didn’t really think back to it for another year. Probably I should write her “hey, so here’s what actually happened…”
More like “hey, your actions were harmful to my health and you should reconsider your biases as a professional since it’s your job to be open minded even when you think your patient is wrong”
Or at least "hey, here’s my malpractice lawyer’s number.
I wish I had, because they really failed and the psychologist BS was a disappointing insult on top of it. Apparently, this hospital has a reputation for doing that. It’s common, in general, that if they can’t figure out anything or don’t want to keep trying, doctors conclude you’re mentally ill or ‘faking’.
If you want you can read a thread I posted on reddit asking for advice 2 years ago. As best I could gather, there’s a time limit of 3 years and it was too late by the time I recovered enough to consider doing anything.
We’ll run this test, but your insurance probably won’t cover it so here’s the bill. How would you like to pay today?
I always hate how casual they are too. “That will be $3,526, how would you like to pay?”
“Uhh… i wouldn’t, thanks.”
My credit is fucked anyways and I work at a Walmart.
Sue me bitchs.
More like “we already ran this test without telling you how expensive it would be. Your insurance didn’t cover it. Here’s your bill. And here’s a second bill for the same exact thing but this time we’ll call it ‘professional services’ instead of lab work – pay that too or we’ll send you to collections.”
Fucking send it to collections. I’m no rookie at dodging collectors and phone calls.
Welcome to the US department of Veterans Affairs.
Remember all of those guys with Gulf war syndrome whose doctors told them they were faking it until they killed themselves? Ends up. They were exposed to nerve gas and doctors aren’t trained in that. Oopsies!
The same is happening within the VA today. Too many of my friends have killed themselves.
I personally have had nothing but a great experience with my VA healthcare. It seems like it really depends on what region you are in.
The VA is criminally underfunded and as a result understaffed.
My former cardiologist kept grilling me to lose weight, laughing in my face when I told him I was really active at work but still gaining. Turns out I was retaining water because the heart failure he blamed on my weight was a genetic defect that a few years later required a transplant.
Due to unrelated circumstances, I moved states between my last visit with him and the discovery of how much worse my condition was or I definitely would have had words with him.
You may want to file a complaint with the medical licensing board of that state though. While nothing will probably happen because of it, it may make him think twice the next time before he is so dismissive.
I’ve seen doctors do so much stupid stuff. My former oncologist prescribed two drugs I was obviously allergic to, including one that nearly put me on dialysis for the rest of my life.
Another dumbass refused to accept that I had a bone fragment in the back of my hand. Forty years later I have a hand that has permanent bone damage.
Thanks, guys.
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Super specialization in medicine is definitely an issue. I’m sorry you went through that. I don’t think many neurologists would even think of screening someone for eoe.
There’s a lot of problems with the American healthcare system, but one of the benefits to providers being businesses is that you can refuse to pay for services they don’t actually provide.
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They’d charge you for being present in the room, let alone receiving consultation. If they can bill it, they will.
Reminds me of the innkeeper from Les Misérables
After surgery while recovering in a teaching hospital the doctors came through with a boatload of residents who did nothing but watch and listen. I later found out that every single one of those residents billed for each visit.
If you don’t know how to dispute a charge and just roll over and take whatever the system throws at you, sure.
There is no need to be disingenuous to be right. You can dispute any charge for services non-rendered in the US, for anything you pay for.
Provided it is a charge, that is to say, paid with Visa/MC’s or your bank’s money, and transacted over the CC issuer’s payment network.
Quite simple a process and at that point, you have hella bigger guys with interest (not in your money but on the interchange fees riding in that funds transfer. They will get theirs back, and so do you get yours.
There are far more people than you seem to realize that simply do not have access to such credit opportunities.
Even a cash payer for healthcare services would have a headache with our legal system should they need to sue for breach of contract.
That one also sucks, in case it wasn’t clear. And again, is the avenue of a privileged subset.
For the majority of Americans, it’s insurance paying. So that means an insurance appeal.
And well… that’s a system in the sense a shifting labyrinth is a system. But don’t take it from me:
https://www.propublica.org/article/how-to-appeal-insurance-denials-too-complicated
Yes, and then the credit reporting agencies ignore your disputes for months, or possibly forever, and in the meantime anything you try to finance will cost more, if you can get it at all.
Alternative doctor irl: is just you being old
Oh, everyone experiences that. That’s normal.
You’ll see, the autopsy will show that I was right.
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The glare was not enough, a massive middle finger was warranted!
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No Gatorade? What kind of barbarism is going on over there?
Hide the pain, literally.
And also you should just lose weight, that will fix it
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Cops in police dramas: we have to catch the murderer! Who cares about his rights, he’s a criminal!
Cops in real life: I’m gonna shoot this black guy, idk he probably did something. Who cares about his rights?
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[Zoidberg] Oh, the hypochondriac’s back! So what is it this time?
[Fry] Well, my lead pipe hurts a little.
|Zoidberg] That’s normal. Next patient!
Stress = I don’t have a clue what’s wrong with you
